Ubuntu Phone Release Date Set for April 2014

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The first Ubuntu phone release date is set for April 2014.

The London-based operating system is being developed for smartphones by a company named Canonical whose founder Mark Shuttleworth recently announced that it should be available on phones and tablets by April 2014.

Shuttleworth also stated that the Ubuntu Phone OS has been designed from the ground up to offer a "crisper, sharper" experience on low-end phones.

He expects many low-end devices to adopt the software which has the ability to be in "lean mode," allowing it to run well on devices with lesser specifications.

The minimum specs for the software to run on will be an A9 ARM processor and 1GB RAM.

The software's "heavy mode" will be designed for high-end hardware and Shuttleworth's goal with it is to achieve a "less complex" user experience than that of the competition.

The devices released with Ubuntu pre-installed will feature most of the bells and whistles of traditional smartphones, but will function as a full PC when docked to a monitor, keyboard and mouse, according to a statement from Canonical.

"We expect Ubuntu to be popular in the enterprise market, enabling customers to provision a single secure device for all PC, thin client and phone functions," said the company's CEO Jane Silber in a statement. "We also see an opportunity in basic smartphones that are used for the phone, SMS, web and email where Ubuntu outperforms thanks to its native core apps and stylish presentation."

Ubuntu utilizes the edges of smartphone and tablet touch screens to perform tasks, access controls and other functions.

An example of this would be a short swipe from the left edge revealing apps while swipes from the right return to the last app the owner used.